One man's attempt to lead an enriched life in a mundane world.
The world can easily beat you into dull submission if you let it. The constant exposure and focus on stupidities and senseless distractions doesn’t advance life in any meaningful way. It deters us from growth, improvement and happiness. In the blink of an eye years have passed, nothing has changed, joy evades us.
Discover an alternate road to living. Make a conscious decision to seek another avenue. Put down the social media distractions; curtail the numbness of television; operate outside the soulless day-to-day grind.
Find your passion, your purpose, your joy. Embrace the Art of Wondering.
I share here two versions of the same beautiful sculpture – each with their own unique finish. The Brookgreen Gardens version is a natural bronze whereas the Speed Art Museum example has a gold finish. Both are gorgeous! Paul Manship is one of my favorites. The theme, particularly with the use of an armillary, is appealing to me! My garden armillary pales by comparison. 🙂 Cycle of Life Paul Howard Manship Bronze, 1924 Brookgreen Gardens …
I was completely blown away and mesmerized by this gorgeous sculpture in the Art Institute of Chicago during a 2007 visit. It evokes such ethereal beauty! I found myself just sitting for a time gazing in awe. The Lost Pleiade Randolph Rogers Marble, 1875 Art Institute of Chicago (All images by the Author: James L. Patterson)
A key part of an enriched life is to allow yourself to regularly experience a sense of awe and wonder. Life without wonder is stale and mundane – a formula for restlessness, anxiety and outright depression. “Wonder is the first of all the passions.” – Rene Descartes What does “awe” and “wonder” mean exactly? Various definitions, Wikipedia entries and online articles define these concepts in a very sterile manner. A lot of these like to …
Another nice tune from Conjure One – Tears From The Moon (Carmen Rizzo Stateside West Chill Out mix) . . . (Featured image by Robert Karkowski from Pixabay)
Very relaxing Chill tune. Blank & Jones – Chilled Cream . . . . (Featured image by James L. Patterson)
This may seem rather trivial to most (I have to remind myself I’m not writing to “most“), but a large part of my appreciation and embellishment for an enriched life consists of surrounding myself with a rich sensory aesthetic that speaks to my inner core. Therefore, based on my own personal tastes and passions, that aesthetic always involves elements of knowledge, discovery, learning, beauty, truth. On a recent Royal Caribbean cruise with my beautiful wife, …
I first ran across this article in 2008 and was struck by it’s simple yet deeply accurate assessment of critical thinking. With many things in life, as I grow older the discoveries I made years ago that struck me at the time as extremely important are many times now less inspiring. However, THIS article is not one of them. 🙂 Peter Suber’s 1,065 words reflect the best representation of intellectual integrity as anything I’ve read …
The Clinical Attitude Toward Arguments by Peter Suber (an Incredible Truth Tool!) Read More »
Orpheus and Eurydice Nathaniel Choate Bronze, 1952 Brookgreen Gardens (All images in this post by the Author: James L. Patterson)
During the Renaissance period Kings, Princes and other aristocrats who had an intellectual and adventurous bent (and wanted to show off their sophistication and wealth), created what was known as a Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer – a Cabinet of Curiosities. What did those cabinets contain? Well, first of all, the word “cabinet” most often referred to an actual room – not a traditional piece of furniture. Nowadays we do have curiosity cabinets; small display units that …
Kunstkammer/Wunderkammer (Cabinet of Curiosities) Read More »
One of the things that satiates my soul and ignites a spark of excitement, awe and wonder is a gorgeous and robust library. There are two reasons for this. The vision of a plethora of books ignites a fire within. I see the myriad of bindings lining the shelves and immediately imagine a wealth of knowledge, adventure, and discovery in their volumes! Each tome an element on the road to ultimate Truth. But books alone …
Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination Read More »
Magical, mysterious and heavenly . . . . (Featured image by James L. Patterson)
Another peaceful, relaxing tune . . . (Featured image by James L. Patterson)
You’ll find I periodically state, “Don’t deny reality.” What does that mean and why is it important? What is Reality? (basic definition) As it relates to the way I use it when I say, “Don’t deny reality,” I mean it from the simple perspective of Knowledge Adventuring: If you have facts and/or a preponderance of evidence staring you in the face, don’t delude yourself by denying its existence. Don’t ignore it. Don’t default to Cognitive …
Another critical barrier to “Proper Thinking” and intellectual integrity is the theory of Cognitive Dissonance. It’s important to understand that this cognitive weakness can be the reason for us to default to other barriers to accurate thinking such as Confirmation Bias and Rationalization. As part of our Knowledge Adventuring it will always serve us well to be aware of these thinking biases and adapt our attitude and approach to the pursuit of enlightenment and truth. …
Another personal impediment to “Proper Thinking” is Rationalization. If we want to improve our intellectual integrity and thinking prowess we need to be on guard from making rationalizations. What is it? I like Neel Burton’s definition: The use of feeble but seemingly plausible arguments either to justify something that is difficult to accept (sour grapes) or to make it seem ‘not so bad after all’ (sweet lemons). We do something not so smart (a bad …
This post, my inaugural entry to deal with one of the many specifics of “Proper Thinking,” will be devoted to Confirmation Bias. With regards to the How, Why and What of thinking, this falls into How – honestly acknowledging a barrier to proper thinking in order to adapt and refine our adventuring path towards the pursuit of Truth. The human understanding when it has once adopted an opinion (either as being the received opinion or …
Another nice chill-out tune . . . . (Featured image by James L. Patterson)
What a smooth chill-out tune! (Featured image by James L. Patterson)
What a gorgeous composition! (Featured Image by James L. Patterson)
Such a gorgeous song. I only wished they would have somehow woven the entire thing into the movie The Last of the Mohicans. It still was moving, as is the movie. (Featured image by Anne-marie Ridderhof from Pixabay)
Evening Paul Howard Manship Bronze, 1938 Brookgreen Gardens (All imaged in this post by the Author: James L. Patterson)
Absolutely beautiful! Ecstasy by Gleb Derujinsky Bronze, 1954 Brookgreen Gardens (All images in this post by the Author: JamesL. Patterson)
A bit haunting and mysterious. . . . (Featured image by James L. Patterson)
Gorgeous tune . . . . . JES – Like a Waterfall (Flipside Ambient Remix) (Featured image by James L. Patterson)
From a recent visit to Brookgreen Gardens: Diana Gleb W. Derujinsky Bronze, c. 1925 (All images in this post by the Author: James L. Patterson)
The beauty of music . . . . I love to shuffle the following groups on Pandora: Delerium Blue Stone Sleepthief Conjure One I get the most beautiful array of music to listen to in the car to and from work. I also like to jump to other stations as well: Sarah Brightman, Josh Groban, Yanni, Claude Debussy, Sara McLaclan. They’re all satiating to my soul . . . . whether it resonates to me …
Poor Thinking Most people cruise through life with nary a thought about thought. And, really, why bother thinking about how well, or poorly, you think? What difference does it make? That depends, really. Do you care if others think you’re stupid? Do YOU care if you look stupid? More importantly, do you care if you ARE stupid? Or the converse . . . do you worry people might think you’re too smart? Will they treat …
Proper Thinking – Realizing I Don’t Think Correctly Read More »
I wanted to call this category “Renaissance Living” but didn’t want to appear presumptuous or portray something I’m not. Ideally my attitude over the last 25 years has been to try and mimic the adventurous spirit of discovery that my grandmother, Elsie Lacy, embraced in her life. For me, growing up as a child, my grandmother was a beacon of getting out of her comfort zone and experiencing as much about life and culture as …
I have an innate passion and drive about individualism, personal responsibility and freedom. In my ideal world each person would be as self-reliant as possible, the government would stay out of our lives and allow individuals the opportunity for ultimate growth. Any significant achievements of the human race aren’t made by wards of the state sucking from the teet of big government. It’s done with the passion & persistence of independent individuals with vision. I …
For use on this website it specifically refers to those activities for which I have a direct interest in learning about or (more importantly) actively participating. These are the activities that I involve myself which give me the satisfaction of actually producing something of value and/or beauty. There are a large number of hobbies and activities we as members of the human race can find fulfillment. I’ll only be addressing those for which I actually …
This category could hold SO much! For me it denotes those things on this earth and in my life that evoke a deep appreciation and attraction; a soulful resonance within me. It could range from . . . . as simple as making a detailed and appreciative observance of a blooming flower, tiny insect, attractive landscape garden, or as soul-touching as a beautiful piece of music, a particularly attractive work of art, a beautiful person, …
If I had to identify the most critical element of the shaping of my life and persona, it has to be my passion for the pursuit of truth/accuracy/reality. At first I thought this was something that came about in my thirties. However, over the years in doing various exercises to identify my true mission and purpose in life, I realize I’ve always been hugely concerned with identifying, understanding and conveying what was truthful and accurate …
